Smith went 6-10 this season and 8-24 over two years in charge of the team. The announcement came as a surprise to many because Smith’s job was not considered to be in danger.

A statement from Buccaneers Co-Chairman Joel Glazer said, “This decision was difficult on a variety of levels. I am disappointed that we were not more successful these past few seasons, but we are committed to doing what is necessary to give our fans the winning team they deserve. ”

General manager Jason Licht will oversee the search for a new coach.

Smith led the Chicago Bears to the NFC title in 2006, when they lost to Indianapolis in the Super Bowl. He was 84-66 in nine seasons with Chicago.

My name is Michael Vislosky, I was born in Staten Island New York and have lived in the Chico area for around 20 years. This is my blog which I will be posting on quite often. The name Twitch’s Take comes from the fact that I have Tourettes Syndrome and Twitch is my nickname. For my first blog I am writing about the football team that I have followed since I was 6 years old, the New York Jets. Being a Jets fan is not easy, somewhat like being a Browns fan, but this season was different. Before this season began I predicted 4 things, a top 5 defense, top 10 offense, 10 wins and playoffs. I was right on 3 out of 4, they didn’t make the playoffs. The way they didn’t make the playoffs was the most painful, losing twice to former coach Rex Ryan. If they had lost to any other team to be knocked out of the playoffs it truly would not have hurt as much. I read all the message boards on ESPN or CBS sports and after the game so many people are quick to play the blame game and say horrible things. The biggest blame went to Ryan Fitzpatrick for throwing 3 interceptions in the 4th quarter, but people forget without his 31 passing touchdowns and others on the ground, the Jets would have been a middle of the pack team. Looking at all 3 interceptions in the 4th quarter, I really don’t put the blame on Fitzpatrick. The first interception was a route where the ball was thrown before the receiver made his break, if the receiver would have ran a better route it could have been a touchdown. The second he was hit as he threw the ball which led to a pop fly throw that if on target would have been a 25 year completion. The third was desperation, with 17 seconds left a miracle would have been needed. The loss was not just one persons fault, it was the teams, you win as a team and you lose as a team.

As a die hard fan, who is depressed for at least a week after loses, this season was different. I watch the games with my younger brother every week, and we both said that there was something about watching this team this year. Could possibly be the fact that this was the first team in recent history that had an offense. A fifteen hundred yard receiver, another thousand yard receiver, a thousand yard rusher and an almost 4000 yard quarterback. The games were fun to watch and they were in every game except for one this year. All that made the way the season ended so painful. This team should have all the players and motivation they need to come back next year and finish the mission. Even with the disappointment, this year was everything I could have wanted as a fan.

(AP) — Klay Thompson scored 22 of his 36 points in the first quarter and Stephen Curry added 17 before sitting out the fourth to rest his ailing leg in the Golden State Warriors’ 109-88 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night.

Kobe Bryant sat out his third straight game with a sore right shoulder for the Lakers, whose three-game winning streak ended in Golden State’s 33rd win in 35 games.

Curry stayed in the game after taking a blow on his left leg in the third period, but briefly limped with obvious frustration on his face. The reigning MVP missed two games with a bruised lower left leg last week before returning for Golden State’s last two games.

Curry went to the locker room before the fourth.

(AP) — Deron Williams hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer in the second overtime, and the Dallas Mavericks beat Sacramento 117-116 Tuesday night for their 22nd consecutive home victory over the Kings.

Williams took an inbounds pass from Devin Harris with 2.3 seconds left, pump faked to get Rudy Gay to fly by him in the left corner and the ball went in after the buzzer sounded.

Dirk Nowitzki hit an earlier 3 as the Mavericks scored the last eight points after falling behind 116-109 with 1:20 left in the second overtime.

DeMarcus Cousins scored 35 for his third straight 30-point game for the Kings, including a buzzer-beating layup for a 98-98 tie at the end of regulation.

Former Dallas guard Rajon Rondo was out with back spasms in his first visit since an acrimonious split after an ill-fated half-season with the Mavericks.

(AP) — Nationals first baseman Ryan Zimmerman and Phillies first sacker Ryan Howard have filed defamation lawsuits in Washington against Al-Jazeera America over statements made in a documentary about performance-enhancing drugs in sports.

The suit alleges that Charles Sly, a pharmacist who appeared in the documentary, made false statements when he said Zimmerman and Howard both took a human growth hormone. The documentary also suggested that Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning took HGH while recovering from neck surgery.

LOCAL SPORTS

Oroville High School junior guard Ryan Lowe put on a show and the Chico High Panthers paid the price. Lowe scored 35 of his 42 points in the second half as Oroville knocked off Chico 78-65 in the Eastern Athletic League opener for both squads. With the win the Tigers move to 8-3 on the season, while Chico falls to 9-5.

The Pleasant Valley boys basketball team eased to a 51-24 win over Paradise in their EAL opener. The Vikings would jump out to an early lead and would not look back. Pleasant Valley held Paradise to 8-for-55 shooting on the night. PV moves to 10-4 on the season while Paradise drops to 5-6.

Las Plumas 51-34 over Corning

The Butte College Roadrunner men’s basketball team has one more tune-up before they open Golden Valley Conference play. The Roadrunners will play Simpson College’s JV squad on Friday before they play College of the Siskiyous at Cowan Gym next Wednesday.

Butte is sitting at 10-6 on the season with several strong performances in pre-season tournaments.

The 32-2 Golden State Warriors travel to Los Angeles to take on the Lakers tonight at the Staples Center. The Warriors are trying to win their third game in the last four days. The Lakers have won only 8 games all year and may have to do it without Kobe Bryant who is listed as day-to-day. Game time tonight is 7:30pm

(AP) — Cincinnati quarterback Andy Dalton has the cast off his passing hand, and coach Marvin Lewis says it’s possible he could be AJ McCarron’s backup when the Bengals host Pittsburgh in the playoffs on Saturday night. Dalton broke his right thumb while making a tackle in a 33-20 loss to the Steelers on Dec. 13. McCarron is preparing to start his fourth straight game in Dalton’s place.

(AP) — Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin says running back DeAngelo Williams is day-to-day for Saturday’s wild-card game against Cincinnati. The 32-year-old Williams injured his right leg in Sunday’s season-closing win over Cleveland. He’s tied for the NFL lead with 11 rushing touchdowns.

(AP) — Browns owner Jimmy Haslam has brought in Paul DePodesta, a baseball executive and analytics expert with 20 years of major league experience, to be the NFL team’s new chief strategy officer. DePodesta has been a longtime aide to Sandy Alderson and the Mets’ vice president of player development and amateur scouting.

. (AP) — Tom Coughlin (KAWF’-lihn) says he may not be done coaching a day after stepping down as the New York Giants head coach. The 69-year old thanked the organization and his players, among others, for his 12 years as the Giants coach. Coughlin won two Super Bowls during his tenure, but the Giants have posted three straight losing seasons.

(AP) — Free agent slugger Mike Napoli and the Cleveland Indians have finalized their $7 million, one-year contract. The Indians are hoping the 34-year-old can add some much needed right-handed power. He has 204 career homers. Napoli hit .224 with 18 home runs and 50 RBIs with Boston and Texas in 2015.

(AP) — Draymond Green became the second Warriors player ever to post three straight triple-doubles and Golden State rolled to its 35th straight regular-season home win, 111-101 over the Charlotte Hornets on Monday night.

Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson scored 30 points apiece and Marreese Speights had a season-high 15 off the bench to help the Warriors sweep the season series from Charlotte.

But the night belonged to Green, who had 13 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists to join Tom Gola in 1959-60 as the only Warriors players ever to get triple-doubles in three straight games. The last player in the NBA to do it was Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook, who had a four-game streak last season.

(AP) — DeMarcus Cousins had 33 points and a season-high 19 rebounds, and the Sacramento Kings took advantage of Kevin Durant being out of the lineup to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 116-104 on Monday night.

Durant missed the game with a sprained right big toe. His status is day-to-day, but coach Billy Donovan said before the game that he didn’t consider it serious.

(AP) — Jim Tomsula has been fired by the San Francisco 49ers after one disappointing season, just more than two hours after the season finale.

Elevated from his defensive line coaching duties in an unconventional, surprising promotion by CEO Jed York last January, Tomsula went 5-11 as the Niners missed the playoffs for the second straight season. They were 8-8 a year ago in then-coach Jim Harbaugh’s fourth season before his “mutual” parting with the franchise, as the team described it.

San Francisco rallied for a 19-16 overtime victory against St. Louis in Sunday’s season finale at Levi’s Stadium, where the home team got booed again.

(AP) — Phil Dawson kicked a 23-yard field goal 11:33 into overtime for his fourth of the game, and the San Francisco 49ers held off the St. Louis Rams 19-16 on Sunday in what was Jim Tomsula’s last game as coach.

Dawson came through after Greg Zuerlein’s 48-yard field goal attempt was blocked by Dontae Johnson, giving San Francisco the ball back with 4:49 to play.

Blaine Gabbert passed for 354 yards and a 33-yard touchdown for the 49ers (5-11), who avoided their worst finish since 4-12 in 2005.

(AP) — Alex Smith threw two touchdown passes, Kansas City sacked Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr six times, and the Chiefs held on for a 23-17 victory Sunday to give them a franchise-best 10 straight wins entering the postseason.

The Chiefs were awaiting the result of the Denver-San Diego game to learn their playoff fate. If the Broncos win, they’ll head to Houston as the fifth seed. If the Chargers win, the Chiefs win the AFC West for the first time since 2010 and will host Pittsburgh in the first round.

Regardless, the Chiefs (11-5) are somehow in the dance after a 1-5 start.

The Raiders (7-9), who accounted for two of those victories, had the ball with 1:34 left. But Carr was sacked one last time, and the clock expired before they came close to a go-ahead touchdown.

The 21st-ranked Chico State Wildcats men’s basketball team notched two wins to ring in the new year setting up a couple of titanic tilts this week against two of the three teams they share first place with in the CCAA.

Chico disposed of Cal State Los Angeles on New Year’s Eve with a 73-55 win. The Cats suffocating defense forced the Golden Eagles to run through their offense multiple times, while also getting back in transition preventing easy buckets for CSLA. Chico State had four players in double figures led by Corey Silverstrom’s 18 points. An emphasis for the Wildcats was to keep the Golden Eagles off the boards, which Chico did out-boarding CSLA 40-26.

On Saturday the Wildcat men traveled to Carson to take on the Dominguez Hills Toros. Dominguez came into the game as the best 3-point shooting team in the league, knocking down 42 percent of their perimeter tries. While the Toros shot 42 percent from downtown in the game, Chico held the hosts to 14-of-44 shooting from two point range, holding Dominguez Hills to 34 percent shooting for the game. Chico won the game 78-64 withTanner Giddings having the best game of his Chico State career. The senior dominated the paint scoring a career high 20 points grabbing 12 boards and blocking 4 shots.

Chico State will rest for a couple of days before making the difficult trek to Arcata to take on long-time rival Humboldt State on Thursday before heading down to Pomona on Saturday. This week marks the most difficult and maybe the most important week of the regular season.

Chico State, Humboldt State, Cal Poly Pomona and UC San Diego are in a four-way tie for first place in the CCAA with records of 5-1. Not only will the games be difficult but the travel from Arcata to Pomona is the toughest of the conference season.

In Humboldt the Wildcats must muzzle an electric offense that is averaging nearly 90 points a game. The Lumberjacks are rolling despite, what appeared to be a crippling injury to returning power forward Calvin Young II who tore his ACL weeks before the season started. Five players average double figures for the Jacks, led by senior Rocky Brown who is scoring 20 points and grabbing 9 boards a game. Returning freshman of the year Malik Morgan is having another great year averaging 12 points and 5 assists a game all while shooting 51 percent. While Humboldt is giving up 75 points a game it is a mere footnote when you consider the potency of their offense. The Wildcats defense will be tested in one of best environments in the CCAA.

The Cal Poly Pomona Broncos tasted defeat for the first time this year on Saturday night as the UC San Diego Tritons tripped them up on Saturday in La Jolla. The Broncos had won 12 straight fell at Rimac Arena.

Senior Jordan Faison may be the best player in the league. He has been one of the most consistent performers in the CCAA since he donned Bronco colors. He is averaging 18 points, 7 rebounds all while shooting 62 percent from the field. Faison also patrols the middle in that stingy match-up zone, a staple of Head Coach Greg Kamansky’s club.

Pomona has never been flashy, but they have always been good. The buy-in from their group is a reason why they have won multiple West Region titles, are a perennial NCAA Tournament team and have won a National Title. More than any other team in the CCAA the Broncos take advantage of opponents’ mistakes. They will rarely beat themselves and they feast on team’s impatience on the offensive end. You take a bad shot, you will pay. This year’s Broncos scored 75 points a game while giving up only 60 points a contest. Considering the reduced shot clock and the faster pace to games, giving up 60 points a game is a tremendous feat.

Chico plays Pomona on Saturday night in a battle between the two teams that have been the most consistent winners in the CCAA over the last four years.

On both Thursday and Saturday the Chico State men will air at 7:15pm on Newstalk 1290 KPAY, also right here on KPAYSports.com and ChicoWildcats.com

We had a chance to sit down and talk with Chico Heat General Manager Hunter Hampton talking about the upcoming Chico Heat season and the preparation for the return of summer baseball to Nettleton Stadium……

The Golden State Warriors take on the Dallas Mavericks as they open up a mini two-game roadie in Texas. The Dubs sit at 29-1 and play a Mavericks team that has struggled lately. On Thursday the Dubs play the Houston Rockets in a re-match of last year’s Western Conference Finals.

Local Sports

The Butte College men’s basketball team (10-5) led won their second straight game at the Siskiyous Tournament in Weed beating Umpqua College from Oregon 93-80. Trey Foster led the Roadrunners with 27 points. Michael Shoemaker chipped in with 16. Butte will play Lane College at 1pm today looking to sweep all three games at the Siskiyous Tourney.

The Pleasant Valley Vikings boys basketball team moved to 8-4 with a 36-30 win over Franklin High at the Oak Ridge Tournament. Kyle Lindquist led the Vikings with 16 points. PV will play Shasta in the consolation final today at 5pm.

The Chico High boys were 69-57 winners over Grants Pass at the Enterprise Tournament on Tuesday. Ryan Prott led the way for the Panthers with 21 points. Chico closes out play in the Enterprise Tourney taking on Petaluma at 2:30 this afternoon

The Chico High girls basketball team moved to 9-2 with a 54-42 win over Cloverdale at the West Coast Jamboree. Ali Petersen scored 18 to pace the Panthers. Jessi Mickow had 13 points and 13 rebounds for Chico. The Panthers will play Albany this afternoon at 4:30pm

This week we break down some of the exciting match-ups from last weekend. The “Classic” played between Pleasant Valley and Valley Christian. The thriller at Harrison between Paradise and Encinal. And, we look at wins by Foothill, Anderson and West Valley.

We also preview one of the more competitive weekends in years in high school football with Shasta hosting West Valley, Lassen at Foothill, Red Bluff at Orland, Colusa at Durham, Maxwell and Fall River and two (3-0) teams going at it in Willows and Williams

The Biggs Wolverines were ready to celebrate. With 6:04 remaining they had just completed a 9-minute drive to grab a 21-7 lead over the defending Division V champion Fall River Bulldogs.

But the heart of a champion should never be underestimated. The Bulldogs would drive 60 yards in 2:55 seconds to cut the deficit to 21-14. Then, after recovering an on-side kick the Bulldogs were trying to pull off one of the great comebacks in North Section Championship history. With no timeouts the Bulldogs had a 1st and goal from the Biggs 7 yard line. After a couple of runs nudged the ball to the 3, Fall River’s chances looked to be dim after a fumbled snap. What would follow would be some of the most dramatic North Section Championship football in years.

Check out the video below as we provide the play-by-play as heard right here on KpaySports.com and the KpaySports app……